Today in #OpenGov 9/24/2014

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Keep reading for today’s look at #OpenGov news, events, and analysis including donor dollars, ONE trillion in corruption, and local archiving issues. 

A newspaper with the headline Open Gov

National News

  • Many major Democratic donors are investing in the Senate candidacy of Independent Greg Orman in Kansas, despite the fact that he hasn’t publicly stated who he will caucus with if he knocks off incumbent Republican Pat Roberts. (Public Integrity)
  • Democrats have turned the tables on big money fundraising over the past couple of years. Despite slipping polls and long running efforts to paint the GOP as the party of shady political money, Democratic committees are significantly outraising Republican ones this year. (POLITICO)
  • The Partnership for Public Service gave out awards to government workers this week and there was a distinct focus on honoring employees doing innovative things with federal data. (Federal Computer Week)
  • Conservative pundit and campaign finance scofflaw Dinesh D’Souza was given five years of probation and 8 months in a “community confinement center” for using straw donors to funnel money to a U.S. Senate candidate. (Washington Post)

International News

  • The ONE Campaign, started by Bono to end poverty and disease, is out with a new report saying that at least $1 trillion is funneled out of poor countries every year via corruption. (Trust.org)
  • In advance of a G20 leader’s summit taking place in Australia in November, Transparency International Australia is publishing an independent review of whistleblowing laws across the group of economic powerhouses. (Transparency.org)

State and Local News

  • Courts have consistently found that text messages about public business that take place on the personal cell phones of public officials are public records. However, preserving and archiving those messages can often be much easier said than done. (Government Executive)

Events This week

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